Where to eat fondue and raclette in Zurich at Christmas
People come to the Zurich markets for the lights and stay for the cheese. Most of the markets have somewhere to sit over a fondue pot, and between the chalets you can graze on raclette and roasted chestnuts with a mug of something hot in your other hand. This guide goes market by market for the cheese, then covers the Zurich dishes to look for and the tours that make eating the whole plan.
What goes in the pot
Cheese fondue is melted cheese loosened with white wine and a splash of kirsch, the clear cherry spirit, kept warm over a small flame in the middle of the table. You spear cubes of bread on long forks and swirl them through, and most places add potatoes and pickles on the side. Cheese blends vary from kitchen to kitchen, but you need no special vocabulary to order. Raclette is the other Swiss cheese classic, a wheel warmed until the surface melts, then scraped over boiled potatoes. Both are filling. For most people one pot or one plate in an evening is plenty.
Fondue chalets at the city markets
Most Zurich markets have a chalet or a covered corner where you sit down for fondue instead of eating on your feet.
| Market | Where the fondue is | Market hours |
|---|---|---|
| Bellevue Noël, Sechseläutenplatz | Fondue chalet for up to 600 people, bar open until midnight Monday to Saturday | 11 am to 10 pm Monday to Saturday, 11 am to 8 pm Sunday |
| Zürcher Weihnachtsallee, Europaallee | Fondue chalet open daily until midnight, plus a Glühstube and street food | 11 am to 10 pm Monday to Saturday, 11 am to 8 pm Sunday |
| Singing Christmas Tree, Werdmühleplatz | Fondue chalet next to the choir tree | 4 pm to 9 pm Monday to Thursday, 4 pm to 10 pm Friday, 1 pm to 10 pm Saturday, 1 pm to 9 pm Sunday |
| Polarzauber, Zurich HB | Parsennbahn, fondue served in a train carriage | 11 am to 9 pm Sunday to Wednesday, 11 am to 10 pm Thursday to Saturday |
| By the Grossmünster, Old Town | The fondue chalet by the Grossmünster, on the guided walk's route | Check on the spot |
| Uetliberg, Hotel Uto Kulm | Fondue in the Maiensäss | Weekends only, noon to 8 pm Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm Sunday |
Organizers publish final hours shortly before the season starts, so check each market's own page before you set your evening around a chalet.
Bellevue Noël has the biggest room by far, and its bar keeps going after the stalls close, so it suits a group that wants to linger; our Bellevue Noël guide covers the rest of the square. The Weihnachtsallee chalet beside the station stays open until midnight every day, Sunday included, so it is the late option. On a wet night the Parsennbahn inside the station hall keeps you dry from the platform to the pot; see the main station market. The fondue chalet by the Grossmünster is the one the guided Christmas market walk passes on its way through the Old Town lanes. The Uetliberg is about 25 minutes from HB on the S10 plus a short climb, and its weekend market pairs fondue with a Bavarian curling lane.
Raclette and something hot to drink
Raclette is on offer across the markets too, and it makes the easier snack when you want cheese without committing to a whole pot. Roasted chestnuts are the other warm thing to carry between huts. For drinks, the markets pour mulled wine (Glühwein), and many stalls also sell an alcohol-free punch for children and drivers. The Münsterhof market in front of the Fraumünster pours its own home-made mulled wine, and the Uetliberg market serves it on the hill.
If you would rather have someone lead you through it, Zurich Discover runs a Christmas Market and Old Town Food Experience, from ~$243, a small group of 2.5 to 3 hours with raclette over potatoes and a Glühwein (or an alcohol-free version) in a souvenir mug you keep. Roasted chestnuts are on the route to buy, and the guide adds Old Town stories. The listing had no reviews when we compared. Even at the reduced price of about $226 that GetYourGuide sometimes shows, you pay far more than for the same raclette bought at a stall.
Zurich dishes to look for
Cheese gets the attention, but Zurich has its own winter food, and Secret Food Tours builds its walk around these dishes.
- Zurich sausage. A bratwurst served with sauerkraut and mustard, which the tour eats at a long-standing sausage shop;
- Rösti with a creamy stew. Crisp grated potato under a sauce in the style of Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, paired on the tour with a local Riesling;
- Chäschüechli. A small cheese tart, tasted at a cheese shop alongside a hay schnapps;
- Bircher muesli. Oats soaked with fruit, the breakfast staple that opens the morning version of the tour, followed by hot chocolate in a grand café.
Fondue on wheels
Standing at a market table works for raclette but less well for a pot of fondue. eTukTuk's fondue and wine ride, from ~$194, puts you at a built-in table inside an electric tuk-tuk for 90 minutes instead. It is private, with up to four guests per vehicle, and starts at Europaallee 7 beside the station. The driver collects freshly made fondue from a partner restaurant. Each guest gets 200 g of cheese with bread and steamed baby potatoes, plus pickles such as gherkins and pickled onions, and one bottle of white wine comes with each vehicle. Then you eat while the tuk-tuk rolls past the Grossmünster and the Fraumünster with its Chagall windows. It carries on to St. Peter and down Bahnhofstrasse. In winter it carries blankets and lambskins, and it has rain covers for wet nights.
Guides such as Robbie and Marco get warm praise, and the tour scores 4.8 on both sites (192+ reviews on GetYourGuide, 239+ on Viator, where it costs about $198). The fondue contains alcohol. An alcohol-free pot and gluten-free bread are available on request. There is no lactose-free fondue, and it is not suitable for wheelchairs. Street noise can drown out the guide, and reviewers score value lower than the guiding. Because the price is per person, a full vehicle of four pays four times the fare for a private ride.
A seated fondue through the lit Old Town
Your own e-tuk-tuk with a fondue table for up to four and a bottle of white wine, rolling for 90 minutes past the lit churches, from ~$194 per person. It leaves from Europaallee 7, next to the station, with blankets on board for cold nights.
A food walk with Secret Food Tours
Secret Food Tours' Zurich walk, from ~$137, covers the dishes above in 3.5 hours with a group of 12 at most. You meet at Bellevueplatz, looking for the guide with the orange umbrella 15 minutes before the start. The tastings add up to a full meal, so reviewers advise arriving hungry. The menu also has fondue bites dipped in kirsch and a historic gin at a spirits shop. The sweet stop brings chocolates from the city's oldest chocolatier. Book the afternoon slot and a champagne truffle or a Zurich cocktail stands in for the muesli and hot chocolate. A Monday tour trades the cheese shop and the fondue bites for a proper fondue.
It scores 4.9 from 633+ reviews on Viator and 4.8 from 156+ on GetYourGuide, where it costs about $173. The walking is level but adds up, and there is little time to buy anything at the stops. Tips are not included, and guests must be 18 or over for the alcohol.
Planning a cheese evening
The chalets fill fastest on Friday and Saturday evenings, while weeknights before 7 pm are the quietest time at most markets. Browse first and eat last, since a pot of fondue leaves little appetite for anything else. Our market dates and hours helps you pick the night, and the Old Town markets guide maps the walk between the Grossmünster and the Singing Christmas Tree. For dessert, our chocolate guide picks up where the cheese leaves off. Lucerne's RUDOLFS Weihnacht and Basel's Adväntsgass both serve fondue out of town, as Christmas markets near Zurich explains, and parents planning an early dinner can find market timing for children in Zurich at Christmas with kids.